My (Our) Senior Year of High School

Yay, another blogmeme! (What's wrong with me that I love these?) Via Kevin at The Smallest Minority (who got this via Mostly Cajun) -- your Senior Year of High School (Stickwick in black; Carnaby in green):

What year was it?

1990.

1990.

What was your schedule?

Lessee... IB Physics, IB Calculus, IB English, IB Chemistry, Theory of Knowledge (another IB course), and some other stuff... architectural drafting and maybe social studies, I think.

IB Physics, IB Calculus, IB Chemistry, English, Drafting, Spanish, Electronics.

What were your favorite bands?

I didn't listen to music much in high school. Vivaldi and Pavarotti were about it (not bands, but that's all there was).

Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepellin, The Who, Aerosmith, Boccherini.

What was your favorite outfit?

If it was comfy and looked halfway civilized, then that's what I was wearing.

T-shirt and sweat shorts with torn butt.

What was up with your hair?

Not much. I was one of the few girls who didn't have huge hair back then. Usually a pony-tail or braid.

Plain-old short haircut (thankfully grew out of middle school mullet phase).

Who were your best friends?

The IB nerds.

Football teammates and one skater dude (still best friend).

Did you take the bus?

I don't think so -- I honesty can't remember how I got to school.

I remember, we shared a badly oxidized blue Ford Granada with a horn that sounded like a turkey gobble. Either that, or our Nana drove us, or my girlfriend.

What did you do after school?

Worked at my dad's fitness center as an instructor and receptionist, and then worked at the video store next door as an assistant manager. Exercised a lot, too.

Football during the season, snowboarding during the winter, and constant weightlifting.

Who did you have a crush on?

Nobody; I had a boyfriend.

I had a girlfriend at the time, but I also had a crush that had been ongoing for some time previous on another girl who shall remain nameless.

Did you fight with your parents?

No. Carnaby and I lived with our dad and grandparents. They were pretty easy to get along with.

What Stickwick said.

Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?

Sylvester Stallone in First Blood, Mel Gibson in the Road Warrior movies, Kurt Russell, Jeff Bridges, and the guy from the American Ninja movies. I had an intellectual crush on Howard Roark.

I don't recall.

Did you smoke cigarettes?

No. Barf.

No. Barf.

Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker?

No.

No.

Did you have a ‘clique’?

Not really. I hung out with the IB nerds, because they were the most fun, but I also spent a lot of time with the Asian students (my boyfriend at the time was from Laos) and with some "adults" I knew from the fitness center.

Not really. Sometimes the IB nerds, Sometimes the football team. Mostly my girlfriend (who is NOT Mrs. Fudge, thank God, BTW).

Did you have Chili’s? Denny’s?

No. We lived in British Columbia -- Boston Pizza or White Spot were the places to go.

Ditto.

Who did you want to be just like?

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in terms of success; my dad, in just about every other way.

Howard Roark. Sorta.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A scientist, astronaut, architect, or restaurateur.

Aerospace Engineer.

Where did you think you’d be at the age you are now?

Fabulously wealthy and living in Scandinavia. I had a Viking fetish back then, and was too naive to realize that fabulous wealth and modern-day Scandinavia are mutually exclusive.

Not really sure.

David Horsey is a Jackass

Here's his latest tripe Son of a bitch.

Hell is not Hot Enough

I am always sickened, saddened and amazed at people who hurt their own children.

The noise prompted Mark Wilson, a gun enthusiast, to intervene as Arroyo continued to fire on his [Arroyo's] wounded son.

Looks like Wilson saved the boy, but gave his own life in the process. The full story is here. Damn.

May Arroyo rot in hell. Taking out your grievance with your ex wife on your son. What a bastard.

Note to self: if confronted by maxed-out nut job with rifle and bulletproof gear, aim for the head and/or groin to incapacitate the fucker as quickly as possible.

Hat tip: the geek

Blogchain from Freedom Sight

Thanks to Jed, I have an excuse to post this stuff, which is very dumb out of context, from Our Sciences Ruled by Human Prejudice, by D.G. Garan, Philosophical Library of New York. This is one of my favorite books, along with The Key to the Sciences of Man by the same author.

Homosexuality is easily inferred from the paranoiac's excessive need for general love. Of course, unconscious, unfelt conflicts and symbolism cannot possibly cause the physiologically deep paranoiac reactions. Nor does anybody learn or pursue ideas to torment and scare himself.

Hope you all enjoyed that.

Oh yeah, the rules for posting:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Stickwick's Turn

An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei by Bradley M Peterson, Cambridge University Press.

It has also been suggested that the lower-power (FR I) radio sources might be related to BL Lac objects (Urry, Padovani, and Stickel 1991). This picture is consistent with the known properties of the two classes, their luminosity functions and space densities -- BL Lac objects have weak emission lines and show little evidence for cosmological evolution, as with FR I sources. It is clear that the parent population of the OVVs must be different from that of the BL Lacs, and indeed the likely candidate is the FR II sources (e.g., Padovani and Urry 1992).

Pretty dry or what. The rules don't say I can't explain what this stuff means, so just for kicks here is a key for all those mysterious acronyms:

FR I: Fanaroff Riley Type I radio source -- galaxy with a compact radio-emitting source, usually residing in the nucleus of a galaxy.

FR II: Fanaroff Riley Type II radio source -- galaxy with extended radio-emitting regions, like double lobes resulting from a powerful radio jet.

OVV: Optically violent variable -- a highly variable type of active galaxy.

BL Lac: named after the prototype object, BL Lacertae -- a type of active galaxy related to OVVs -- characterized by a lack of strong absorption/emission lines in their spectra.

Triggerfinger

1. If we are OK with restrictions on firearm possession by felons, how can we better enforce that without infringing on firearms rights? One possibility would be a designation on a state-issued identification card (eg, driver's license) for felons who are prohibitted from firearms possession. Seller checks buyer's license, and the sale is OK if the license is not marked "FELON"; no restrictions on interstate sales as long as the license is checked. This has the advantage of avoiding the backdoor registration mechanism that the present 4473 + NICS is. Thoughts?

2. Make technical violations of GCA'68 into tickets, paperwork violations with nominal fines, rather than felonies, at least for cases lacking any ill intent. There is no reason to threaten honest citizens with a felony that bars future gun ownership forevermore simply for making an honest mistake. The responsibility for not possessing a firearm needs to rest on the shoulders of the felons themselves, because they will always be able to obtain a firearm by means fair or foul.

I like it. The best aspect of part 1 is that there's no registration. All law-abiding citizens are treated equally and no distinction is made between gun owners and non-gun owners. Perfect. I think the marking indicating FELON ought to be small and inconspicuous, maybe on the back, so that it isn't apparent when the poor bastard is getting ID'd for buying a case of beer.

Further, notice that this would be helpful at the voting booths, to prevent felons from voting where they aren't allowed.

Hat tip Say Uncle, thanks.

No Links, No Nothing, I'm Lazy

It seems that there's a couple things going around about this CNN 50 BMG sniper rifle thing. CNN is guilty either of lying about what they did, that is, deliberately deceiving the public to make a seemingly more sensational story, or their actions amount to a federal felony, although it seems the BATFE might not prosecute because there wasn't any intent.

Well then, either way this pans out pretty well for you and me. First, if CNN's guy is tried and found guilty for lying, then he gets to join Martha making apple pudding in the clink, and second, if it's ok to break a federal law as long as you didn't intend to, well, great, I never liked most of those pesky federal laws anyway. I'll just make sure that I'm totally ignorant of the law from now on, and then how could I possibly intend to break them?

Heh. OK, I lied, there's one link. Damn this linking business.

BATF, Hello? Anyone there?

Hi guys, I'm going to link the snot out of you and hope you notice. Hello? Kitten stompers? Where are you? Are you going to tell us that you really love CNN so much that you're going to stay away? Does Paula Zhan gibst du einen steifen? What's the deal? Hello? BATF, Hello?

If by some miracle you do come here, guys, go see here for more details. After that, get your balaclavas on, grab a news crew from Fox, NBC or CBS, or maybe even Geraldo, and lets get some good publicity shots! Full scale raid on CNN! And PLEEAAAASE stick an MP5 in Paula's face, a la Elian Gonzales

How to do High-Speed Internet on the Cheap

I used to do dial-up, on account of I'm a full-time student with a wife and two kids. I found the answer to fitting high-speed internet into your finances. The thing to do is to go VOIP. I use Vonage, and have found the service to be just fine (which is plenty good). It works like this:

1. Sign up with Vonage
2. Transfer your existing phone number to your Vonage number
3. Disconnect your land line
4. Use Vonage

All Vonage requires is that you have a high-speed internet connection, which can be had, without a local phone hookup or cable TV, for around $40-$50 per month. The savings come from using Vonage instead of the local phone company. A Vonage phone line, which includes your local phone service via VOIP, runs $25 plus tax (about $3), and includes ALL long distance within USA and Canada, Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting and all that. So you can ditch your stupid phone line, which probably costs you $70-$90 per month for local, long-distance, and taxes and fees. I've found that it takes about a month for your brain to get used to using Vonage, as there is sometimes a very slight delay in voice transmission / reception, but it is acceptable as far as I'm concerned, especially since it got me away from dial-up.

Switch to Vonage! and feel free to leave comments here if you have any questions about it. And remember, if you shoot high speed projectiles, you should have high speed internet; it's just right.

CNN: Manufacturing Outrage

The media manufacture outrage. They do it with all sorts of issues to their liking, while deliberately ignoring others. In this case they're trying -- desperately enough to break the law -- to manufacture public fear and outrage over the .50BMG non-issue. Freedom Sight, Smallest Minority and Trigger Finger (among others) are all over it.

Shock! IPCC Politically Motivated

From Globawarming.org

Dr. Christopher Landsea of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hurricane Research Division at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, has withdrawn as an author of the Fourth Assessment Report under preparation by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for release in 2007.

And from Dr. Landsea (how about that for the name of an earth science researcher) himself

After some prolonged deliberation, I have decided to withdraw from participating in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). I am withdrawing because I have come to view the part of the IPCC to which my expertise is relevant as having become politicized. In addition, when I have raised my concerns to the IPCC leadership, their response was simply to dismiss my concerns.

[snip]

I personally cannot in good faith continue to contribute to a process that I view as both being motivated by pre-conceived agendas and being scientifically unsound. As the IPCC leadership has seen no wrong in Dr. Trenberth's actions and have retained him as a Lead Author for the AR4, I have decided to no longer participate in the IPCC AR4.

I tell ya, I'm shocked!

Your Own Backyard Monorail

This is too cool for words.

New AR-15 Upper, Alert Say Uncle!

Apparently there's a new and extra-fancy AR-15 upper almost available from Leitner-Wise. It supposedly eliminates the problem with the exhaust blowing all over the action or whatever. If it's really any good, it'll be my first AR-15 upper, preferably in 6.8 spc, on account of I know nother about the 6.8 spc other than what I've read on the internet, and it sounds pretty good, heh. A good explanation is available here. And here's a pic (not that you can tell)

ATF Gets One Right

Good work, guys. It's about time. Now, keep this stuff up and leave the good guys alone!

This was right near where I live too.

Bryco / Jennings

Much as I hate to admit it, there really are such things as junk guns. Jennings / Bryco come to mind. I've never held or fired one personally, but the stories on The High Road are illuminating. My favorite is this

anyone know how to feild strip j22?

...

1. Remove magazine.

2. Make sure the chamber is empty.

3. Lay the gun on a hard flat surface.

4. Smash repeatedly with hammer.

5. Dispose of properly.

Just kidding!

Being new, and asking a question like that here, you're sure to catch more flak from other members as they come along. Jennings isn't exactly the most well-built, quality firearm, but it's better than nothing, I guess.

I'm not really familiar with the J22, but I'd wager that it's built like its other "bargain" counterparts like Lorcin, Bryco and Raven/Phoenix. I've owned one or two of those over the years. Notice I said "owned" - not "shot".

Make sure the gun is unloaded - magazine AND chamber. There should be a round "button" that fits flush in the back of the slide. Push it in with a pencil's eraser or something similar. While pushing, pull up on the back of the slide and ease it forward. Be careful not to lose any springs.

...

yeah that worked, but parts flew across the room and dirtied the new white couch

...

I will sell you mine for $30....I was waiting for a local buyback offer, but could use the money now.

...

Quote:
anyone know how to feild strip j22?

They usually do that all by themselves after about 12 or 13 rounds

Yeah, sounds like good stuff.

On another note, the unfortunate child who was left paralyzed after being shot by his idiot babysitter, who found one of these pieces of crap after it was left under the couch by his parents, has a website up dedicated to getting rid of junk guns. As long as they're getting rid of real junk like this, I don't mind. But really, the Bryco's design didn't have anything to do with the boy's accident. The same thing would have happened with virtually all semi-auto's carried by police today (Beretta, Glock, Sig, Ruger, etc.). This accident was caused when the babysitter pointed the loaded gun at Brandon Maxfield and pulled the trigger. If the babysitter knew and followed proper gun safety Brandon would never have been shot. It seems that Brandon's website would do more good by calling for proper gun safety education in the public schools. At least the basics of gun safety should be posted on that website.

Update: Hey! Good idea, wait till one of the local government agencies has a stupid gun *buyback*, load up on these cheap pieces of crap, and then unload 'em on the government. Kindof a reverse tax.

Good First Gun for Youngster?

My little noodle-noggin is almost 4 years old, so naturally I'm planning his first gun. I figure, considering his level of maturity and interest, that 5 years old might be a good age to get going. The Violence Policy Center, long regarded as a frantic anti-gun organization, has provided this handy website listing several major manufacturers of fine firearms for youngsters. Thanks!

Anyway, I like both the Henry mini-bolt and the little chipmunk .22's. I'm not familiar with the other models listed, and I'm curious about size, weight, safety, and anything else I might have overlooked with respect to guns for munchkins. Any and all advice will be appreciated. I definitely plan to go strictly with iron-sights until he's mastered them, before considering optics. I also want a durable rifle, so it will be around for his little sister to use when she's old enough.

Update: Yesssss! VPC posts this pick on their website along with quotes from some gun experts on how to tell when you're son or daughter is old enough to shoot.

Brady's win Brady Award for Asshatness

Police leaders have joined with the Brady Campaign and Brady Center to sound an alarm to law enforcement professionals around the country about a new handgun available to the general public that is capable of firing bullets through soft police body armor. They are also calling for Congress to take steps to deal with the threat the gun poses.

So I went to their website espousing the urgent need to BAN the FN 5.7 and found their stupid videos.

They really are plain old dumb. Stupid. They pander to the uninformed with a straight face that is hard to believe. After being in the game for this long, they must know that they are dishonest, and simply not care. I guess they could just be ignorant, after all, I've read more than one account of a police officer, on the force for 10 or more years, having less gun aptitude and knowledge than myself, a confirmed gun newbie / novice gun expert. Given their history, I don't think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, the dumb part is this: they shoot two holes in a kevlar vest, probably class II or something, made to stop normal handgun bullets, with the FN 5.6. Both rounds penetrate the vest . Fine. Then they whip out another pistol (probably 9mm) and put two more rounds in the vest. The vest easily stops the two rounds, as designed . They bonk the vest with two rounds of .40 cal and still no problems. Then they whip out a shotgun and blast the vest, noting that the 9 rounds of buckshot and the big-honkin' slug are stopped by the vest. The video stops here. Where's the comparison to Grand-pappy's .30-06 or .30-30 or .270win or whatever? Of course, that comparison would show that they are full of shit and so it is not included (would a zippy .17 penetrate the vest?).

That's all I've got. Stupid bullshit artists. I didn't see anyone else take this stupid video apart, so someone let me know if there's a better rant. Thanks.

Update: Oh yeah, of course Freedom Sight took apart the Brady wieners way back. It seems the type of ammo available to the public for the FN 5.7 does not pierce level II body armor.

How to be 1337

I found this a while back browsing linuxsucks.org, which has, oddly enough, turned into a windows bashing site. Here's the text

/* elite-HOWTO by Twez @ EFnet */

# How to appear as 'elite' on IRC is something tried a lot on IRC these days, but its successful by only a few individuals. This document # will explain how to appear as one.

1. The way of speaking elite. (heh)

Its all about the 'heh'. Quite easy for this one, say 'heh' for every imaginable situations. It has to be your new mantra, you have to chant it every time the occasion is presented to you (and theres a lot of situation to burst out a 'heh', belive me). Even when someone complimentsyou, say 'heh' instead of 'thanks. You will appear as a cool fuck with no education, but thats good cause thats what elites are. Like this exemple:

dude, your new website is the bomb :)
i know, heh.

See the attitude there? Its very important to masterize the 'heh' art.

2. The knowledge of UNIX

DONT RUN WINDOWS!!! DONT RUN WINDOWS!!!. Extremely important there, if you run windows, you cant be elite. You have to run Linux (Slackware at the minimum) or better, some BSD flavour. Then the next step is to learn every UNIX command to impress people on the channels youre in.
Tell some well-known fact like:

- X Windows is gay. Console owns.
- All GUI's are the suck. Did i said that console was elite?
- Pico (or nano) is extremely gay. vi is the elitest.
- X-Chat sucks dicks (cause it has a GUI). BitchX too (console, but too bloated). ScrollZ is elite, EPIC (plain or with a script) is fine.

And so on.. Tell everyone that packeting is gay but dont forget to packet the asshole that juped your nick 5 minutes ago. Then tell people you owned him in 2 seconds and you will appear as the most elite guy in the channel, cause you run *nix and you drop people that jupe nicks on IRC.

3. Don't help!

Now that you installed a decent *nix flavour and learned all his secrets, you install an elite IRC client for elite people.. and you start hanging on IRC. You show your *nix knowledge with many 'heh' and then you wait, cause a reputation take some time to make you know?
Eventually, you will encounter people that ask for help. NEVER, i repeat, NEVER help people on IRC. You will look helpfull if you do so and helpfull people are usually nice people. Dont forget, you elite-wannabe, that elite people arnt nice. They are cold and mean. So even if you are bored to death, stay far from help channels and dont answer when someone msg you for help them. But then, you'll ask me: 'What to answer to people that ask for help?'. Well, follow the exemple below and you'll appear as an elite d00d.

hi, how do i extract blah.tar.gz?
RTFM, asshole

Where RTFM means 'Read The Fucking Manual'. Clearly, you tell him to follow the instructions included in the file. But hey, he comes on IRC to ask a mean fuck elite like you to help him cause he probably read the fucking manual, but didnt understood something. Still, you have an answer especially elite for that:

well, ive read the docs but i didnt understood a thing.. its not clear
cause you have no clue.

Notice the '.' at the end of elite's sentence. It means its definitive and that you cant reply to that. The clue is something elites have..
guys like someguy never have clue. Oh and dont forget to burst out a:

heh

To appear as a real elite.

---

So all in all, being elite is all about saying 'heh' all the time, be the worst asshole on IRC and never help people. So try to follow this how-to and you'll be a real elite. You may ask 'Is the guy that tell me how to be an elite is one himself?' well i'll try to answer that by 'yes and no'

No cause: i help people, i hang on dalnet and undernet (new to undernet), i run Red Hat Linux, im on Xwindows, i like GUI's, im french, i dont know every UNIX commands and switches and i dont say 'heh' for everything.


Yes cause: i use mostly console stuff, i hang on EFnet, i used vi to compose this howto.

---

As you can see, theres more reasons for i am not elite than reasons i am. I dont care at all.

---

If youve been insulted by this document, i dont care at all too. And fuck you.

---

/* EOF */

Heh. I'm not sure what packeting is, but that bit sounds damn funny. Maybe Kirk at limpidity knows, after all, he scored 98 on the nerd meter (I only got 95, maybe I'll reach 98 when I finish my Phd).

Draft Shmaft

This ridiculous website (and a bunch of my nitwit friends, yes, you are nitwits, and I will win the bet when Bush's term is up in 4 years) think that Bush is going to reinstate the draft. Uh-huh, like, because, that was such a success in Vietnam 'n stuff. The draft would be political suicide, and they know it. Besides, a large conscripted army is pathetic compared to a smaller all-volunteer force. They know this too. The ejoy the draft website points to this article in the Seattle-PI as evidence. Look at what it says, you asswads

Mandatory registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but was resumed in 1980 by President Carter after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. About 13.5 million men, ages 18 to 25, currently are registered with the Selective Service.

Thanks alot Jimmah, you frickin' asswipe.

Sometimes I wish I was Bill Gates...

...but only so I could outfit all our snipers in the latest gear and accoutrement. *Sigh* I guess it'll have to wait until the next decade or two. That gives me some extra motivation to work hard now.

I'm actually quite surprised that our marine and army snipers haven't found a single ultra-wealthy benefactor. At least they have us, the unwashed public to hand over our $20's when we can. I sure like those guys.

I Hate Ben and Jerry's too

The War on Guns posts a nice piece that Guns and Ammo apparently refused (due to legal concerns)

One can only hope the Million Moms get their pie from Sara Lee. And maybe serve it with a (healthy?) scoop of Ben & Jerry’s…

go read the whole thing.

I recall reading that Ben & Jerry's, wanting to live the BS that socialists and green-party nitwits had been preaching, adopted the corporate doctrine that nobody in the company would make more than 10-times what the lowest paid employee earned. The best part of the story is that it was a flop. They couldn't find a competent CEO at that rate, and the company was doing poorly. They eventually caved and offered a proper salary to attract a competent CEO. Heh. Assholes.

Hat Tip: Say Uncle

Creationism

Creationism: plausible or simply hokum? Let's start quibbling.

"Camp Crazy"?

If true, here is one of many reasons why the role of women in the military should be very limited, if not nixed entirely.

Read the article and then come back.

Let me be clear on this matter: As ridiculous as this kind of activity is, I do not blame the men for engaging in it. I blame the women. You have a bunch of aggressive, boozed-up young men, and of course they are going to respond when women strip and roll around in the mud. If the wrestlers had been hired strippers, that would have one thing, but it's quite another when the wrestlers are military police officers. What the hell is going on with this "girls gone wild" culture?

[Hat tip: Michelle Malkin]

Dumb and Depressing

This is the weekend of crappy movies. Last night we rented the ultra-slow and thinly plotted The Village. Points for ambiance and acting, but the idiot of that village could have seen the twist at the end coming from a mile away.

Then tonight we saw White Noise at the theater, a movie I found disturbing, depressing, and confusing. I went online to read reviews, in the hope that somebody might explain the confusing stuff, and found, of all things, a Maoist review of the film. Unintentionally hilarious. It is so bizarre that it reads like an Onion parody.

Comments about each film... SPOILER WARNING: If you plan to see either of these movies, read no further.

The Village - The super-slow pace of the film tried my patience, but what really irritated me was the premise. Each of the village elders apparently opted into this simple, moralistic, back-to-the-good-old-days lifestyle because a loved one met a violent, tragic end in the real world. I am all for simple, moralistic, back-to-the-good-old-days lifestyles, but why does this necessarily have to have anything to do with the 19th century? Weren't people meeting violent, tragic ends back then, too? I guess it served as the setup for the twist at the end. Big whoop. How about a movie where people adopt simple, moralistic lifestyles in the modern world, don't check out from reality, but instead try to mitigate the horribleness in the rest of the world like, say, William Wilberforce did in his time?

White Noise - Unspeakably depressing. What was the point of the weird ending? It reduced the movie to a cheap thrill, and made the suffering of the characters pointless. And by the end I was still left with many questions. Who were those three ghost/demon characters? What was their motivation? Why didn't Jonathan see his own imminent death in his EVP recordings? How exactly did he die, anyway? Did one of those mean spirits throw him through the hole in the floor or did he just fall? What were all those crunching noises when Jonathan was battling the spirits -- his bones being crushed? How/why did the three spirits influence the creepy construction guy to kidnap and torture people? If they could touch people, then why didn't they just torture and kill people themselves instead of making someone else do it? Why did creepy guy have that big EVP recording set-up in the warehouse? How did the policeman know to show up at that warehouse with a SWAT team after just one brief and mysterious phone call from Jonathan asking him to come to pier-whatever? Why didn't Anna tell Jonathan that she had been murdered? Do Anna and Jonathan get together in the after-life? What about the theological implications? In what realm do the spirits live? Are all dead people there or is it just an intermediate place? What about God and heaven? Do all dead people try to communicate with the living via EVP? If not, why just those few who do? Are some/all accidental deaths and murders supposedly influenced by mean spirits, and most of us just don't realize it?

ARGH. If anyone has insights, please share.

Gah, now I remember why I usually stick to Star Trek and Doris Day movies.

Providence

My wife found this Uzi-shaped chicken strip in her dinner tonight. I'll call it a good omen for us gun nuts.

This how they know you

Just reported on King5 news: Japan confirms their first human case of mad cow disease. In other news, Ireland has neither confirmed nor denied their first bovine case of mad man disease.

Note: I saw this on the nightly news, but it's not yet on their website.

"Oh, and, fidel? Kiss my ass."

Via Michelle Malkin, I've just discovered the lively anti-Castro Babalu Blog. Prieto's latest post on the 100% literacy rate in Cuba is a dilly.

One hundred percent literacy rate!!!! One hundred percent!!! That's the first thing one hears when the subject of Cuba comes up in any debate. (Followed, of course, by the free health care myth.)

Hmm, sounds familiar. The first thing one hears when the subject of Finland (or Canada) comes up is Free healthcare!!! Social safety net!!! Blech.

One hundred percent of the people in Cuba are literate. They can all read Granma, fidel's speeches, the Little Red Book and their ration cards.

You won't find any New York Times or Washington Posts or Le Mondes in any Cuban households. You wont find many books other than those approved by the government. No Mark Twains or Isabel Allendes or Cabrera Infantes. There certainly wont be a copy of Valladares out on the coffee table. Sorry, not allowed.

But some Cubans, who thirst for knowledge and information on what's going on in the world outside their island prison, started independent libraries - lending libraries - to allow their fellow countrymen access to what little books and media are available that are not part of the govenrment's you-can-only-read-this list. Of course, castro cannot allow his people the freedom of using their 100% literacy rate to see just what a dismal failure his revolution is. So he cracked down on them.

Why don't we ever hear about that from our American Fidel-butt-kissing socialistas?

Books confiscated and burned, because they are "subversive" to the regime. Independent librarians thrown in jails with the comon prison population for "disrespect" or "promoting unrest" or whatever term castro chose for his kangaroo courts.

Meanwhile, we have these results from a recent poll of American high school students

One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get “government approval” of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.

Asked whether the press enjoys “too much freedom,” not enough or about the right amount, 32% say “too much,” and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.

Seems American leftucators have taken their cue from Fidel.

[Hat tip: Kim du Toit for the poll results.]

American G.I. (Joe) Captured!

Oh, no! Militants have managed to capture an American G.I. and are about to behead him! According to this MSNBC article

Doubts were also raised about the authenticity of a photograph posted on the Web site, which the militants claimed depicted the kidnapped soldier. A toy manufacturer said the figure in the photo resembled one of its military action figures, originally produced for sale at U.S. bases in Kuwait.

...

The figure in the photo, who the statement said was named “John Adam,” appeared stiff and expressionless. Liam Cusack, of the toy manufacturer Dragon Models USA Inc., said it bore a striking resemblance to the African-American version of its “Cody” action figure.

"Stiff and expressionless." Apparently John's will has been broken, and he can no longer make use of his karate-chop action.

Not to worry, John. We're sending in this guy to retrieve you



[Militants' credibility: zero; laughingstock index: high.]

UPDATE: Check out the Free Cody Campgain here. We're rootin' for ya, man.

Novice Gun Expert

That's what I am. I'm pretty new to actual guns. I grew up really liking guns, and getting a nice BB-gun from my dad when I was 8 years old. Besides a couple trips with my grandpa to sight in his .30-06 hunting rifle and a few rounds of .22 with my uncle, I hadn't really shot any guns. I was living in Canada for the last 10 years or so, as well, and that didn't help (note: I'm an American, I just lived in Canada for a long time).

I finally moved back to the good ol' USA a couple years ago, and got my first gun, a Beretta 96 Brigadier Inox, about a year ago. I was super into guns at the start, and I ramped up my gun knowledge at warp factor 8.2. My CCW permit followed, and then I got a second gun, a Bersa Thunder .380, and then a third, my trusty Winchester .30-30. I became a gun expert/enthusiast seemingly overnight. The fact remains that while my gun knowledge is pretty good, I'm not really an expert, as true expertise comes with time and experience. Compared to everyone I know, however, I'm a total expert on the topic of guns. I'm a fledgling expert, a, a... a novice expert. See? I'm not a know-it-all, that would be irritating, I know my boundaries, and I will be honest and say "I don't know" when I don't know if a newbie asks me something about guns. By the time I'm 40 or 45 years old, I'll be a real gun expert. Until then, well I'll keep working at it.

Update: I'll consider myself an intermediate expert after I get my progressive reloader and load a couple thousand rounds, and after I build my first AR. I've checked out the AR/AK thing, and so far I've only shot the AR. But from holding both, I definitely like the AR better in terms of ergonomics. I'll have to find one in 6.8 spc on account of that's what many enthusiasts say is good, and I can buy their reasoning. I really have a hankering for one of these though. When I get a real job, it'll be added to the vault (when I have a vault)